Car-coupling



(NdModel.)

A. AIKMAN.

GAR GGUPLING.

Patented Api-.18,1882.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER A. AIKMAN, OF VVINDSOR,ONTARIO, CANADA, ASSIGNOR TO HIM- SELF AND WM. R. MERVVIN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 256,531, dated April 18, 1882.

Application iled -February 17, 1882. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PETER A. AIKMAN, of Windsor, in the county of Essex, Province of Ontario and Dominion ot' Canada, have invented new and useful Improvements in Onr- Oouplings; and I do hereby declare that the followin gis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this speeitication.

The nature of this invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the construction and operation of that class oi devices employed with proper links for the purpose of coupling cars together in a train.

The invention consists in the peculiar construction, arrangement, combination, and operation 'ot' the various parts, as more fully hereinafter described.

In the use of the link-an'd-pin couplings ordinarily employed many lives are lost and limbs destroyed from the necessity of the operator going between the ends of the cars to guide the link into the opposite draw-head and the coupling-pin through the draw-head and bend ot' the link.

The object of my invention is to provide a. coupling device which will allow the cars to be brought nearer together, and which will prevent the accidents to life and limb to which I have above referred.

Figure l is a perspective of my improved coupling device'vattaehed to a. draw bar and head. Fig. Zisa vertical central longitudinal section of th'e'same. Fig. 3 is a detached view of the dog-latch. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the draw-head with the link and dog-latch removed.

In the accompanyingdra-wings, A represents a draw-bar provided with head or mouth B. This draw-bar has a channel, C, in its bottom face, of sufficient size to allow the latch-dog D to be inserted therein with its pointed head, and a bolt, a, passing through the draw-bar laterally and through the hole b near the rear end of latch-dog D, pivotally secures the same Within the channel C.

- A leafspring, E, is properly secured at its rear end to the bottoni ofthe drawbar. This spring extends to the front end of said drawbar, and is a little wider than the width ofthe channel which it closes, and it supports the front end of the latch-dog. Ears F are cast with or otherwise secured to the top of said draw-bar, and between these ears is pivoted the lever Gr, the lower end of which is doubleoam shaped. Apin,H, the head ofwhich rests between the earsimmediately below the pivotal point of the lever, projects through the top of the draw-bar, with its lower end inipinging upon the latch-dog forward ot' the pivotal point of said dog.

The parts being in place and the lever standing vertical, the link L is presented to the mouth of the draw-bar, and Vsufficient force being applied, the end of the link, sliding up the inclined face of thelatch-dog, impinges against the upper inner face of the mouth, and this pressure'forces the forward end of the'sprin g downward sufficiently to allow the bend ofthe link to pass over the latch and engage therewith, when the spring returns to its original position, and the coupling is completed.

To release the link from its engagement for the purpose of nncoupling, the lever is forced to the right or left, as may be, when its camhead forces the pin down against the top ofthe dog-latch, which depresses the forward end ot' the spring sufficiently to allow the link to be disengaged.

What I claim as my invention is 1. I n a car-coupling device, and in combina tion with a recessed or channeled draw-bar, a dog-latch, and a spring constructed and operating substantially as specified, a oamlever and pin, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination, with the chambered and channeled draw-bar A B, of the dog D, providedwith a slot, b, at its pivotal point, the spring E, the pin H, resting on the dog and provided with an enlarged head, and the camlever G, pivoted between lugs E E ot' the draw bar, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

Witnesses: PETER A. AIKMAN.

H. S. SPEAGUE, E. SCULLY. 

